


A Laughing Matter

by InnerSpectrum



Series: Sherlock December Ficlets 2017 [7]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Fluff, Sherlock December Ficlets 2017, Silly Sherlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 06:58:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12953823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InnerSpectrum/pseuds/InnerSpectrum
Summary: Anthea sees a side Mycroft she's never encountered before and nearly panics until she sees why.





	A Laughing Matter

**Author's Note:**

> This is a part of the [Sherlock December Ficlets ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fcollections%2FSherlock_December_Ficlets_2017&t=NjRmODc4ZjE3OGJjNjUzYzg2NWVhY2QzMTRjNDJmOTUwMzdkOTRhMCxabzFVQjBkMA%3D%3D&b=t%3AfMPAp7-tN-90HMCNGHRDOw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmissdaviswrites.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F167644180668%2Fsherlock-december-ficlets&m=0) challenge. Each will be its own story, though knowing me a couple may follow an arc of sorts.  
> The prompt used for this entry: Elf / Naughty

“Sir?”

Not expecting his return so quickly, Anthea looked up in surprise as her boss climbed into the sedan, placed his umbrella to the side, then collapsed over onto the seat. He is still for a terrifying moment then his shoulders begin to shake.

_Mycroft?_

Never having witnessed such behavior from her ever stoic boss before, she was a second from panic mode when the man put fist to mouth and attempted to muffle a strangled groan. Her eyes went wide in stunned disbelief as she realized her boss was laughing. Tears streaming down his face, laughter.

_Oh. My. GOD!_

Her ever present mobile slipped from slackened fingers.

Mycroft heard the device hit the carpeted floor of the sedan, tried to sit up, but took one look at his assistant’s gobsmacked expression and went from barely suppressed laughter to a full out, feet kicked the seat, howling merriment.

Now she panicked.

“Mycroft Holmes you are scaring the fucking shite out of me! You stop this right now or I'm calling emergency services, sir!”

The man raised a hand weakly. It was with Herculean efforts that he pulled himself together and spoke at last.

“There are simply no words for this, my dear.” He still sniggered with delight as he wiped his eyes, “Just go… go to where I was headed and you…you'll understand. £500 if you can get a photo without being seen.”

This was simply too much; she could not believe it.  Anthea picked up her mobile, buttoned her coat and exited the sedan to enter the mall.

Mycroft had entered the mall to pick up a present for his niece. As much as he hated malls and especially the people in them, Mycroft wanted to inspect the custom made gift personally, not wanting to make more trips than necessary in case he had to send it back. She groaned seeing the line of children waiting for a chance to visit Santa. All the screaming and pleading – and that was just the parents! Anthea long ago accepted the title of mother was not likely to bestowed upon her. Times like this reminds her why she would not have it any other way as she brushed past the din and finally reached the archway into Santaland proper.

Even with her boss’ odd behavior as warning she was not ready...

_There is a God. There MUST be to provide such gifts to us mere mortals…_

Anthea stared in wonder as she finally understood.

Seeing Captain John Watson guised in Victorian garb, “Bah humbug!”-ing in mock snarl as Ebenezer Scrooge was one thing. One could actually imagine such in the normal scheme of life. However, the sight of one William Sherlock Scott Holmes in an elf costume? And not just any elf costume, but one which involved the wearing of lederhosen, along with green and red striped hosiery and curled-toe elf slippers with bells! Worse (or was that even better?), Sherlock stood by Santa’s chair. He was the poor sod that had to take the children from their parental figures and place the little darlings on Santa’s lap. His baritone voice raised to a falsetto as he interacted with the public. The detective must have ground down his teeth by at least a centimeter, his jaw was so tightly clenched in a fake smiles. It had to be for a case. She knows it had to be.

_Still, how did John get him to do that? I mean - HOW?!_

Her own face hurt from the grin that stretched her cheeks to their max as she pulled her mobile from her pocket. That she made it back to the sedan without completely losing her composure was as much a testament to her own steadfastness as it was to her boss' tutelage.

Safely ensconced in the warmth of the sedan again Anthea sat giggling as dumbfounded as her boss. Her mobile pinged and she grinned when not £500, but £5,000 appeared in her account after she sent Mycroft the video she had recorded. It captured the consulting detective’s hasty departure, his curled-toe elf booties jingling in righteous indignation as he stomped away with a most horrified expression after one child sneezed directly in his face. It was worth the time it took to replace her ruined make-up as she cried with laughter alongside her boss in the sedan.

Though she had not asked for it she grinned anew when £50,000 appeared in her bank account the next day. It was an unexpected thank you from Sherlock when, much to Mycroft’s dismay, but Sherlock’s extreme pleasure, the data storage to the department store’s security cameras around Santaland malfunctioned, erasing all evidence of the doctor and the detective having been there. 

 _Amazing what one perfectly timed still-shot, emailed to the mad-genius, can do for one’s savings!_  

Still, nothing could put a price on the reaction from her boss, back at work on Boxing Day. Apparently, Mummy Holmes enjoyed the surprise Anthea had tucked in with the present for his mother that Mycroft had asked her to wrap. Thinking the woman deserved to have one photo of her son genuinely happy for a moment, the Holmes matriarch had actually cooed over the picture Anthea captured while Mycroft Holmes was in the sedan laughing at his brother.  Even as he ordered her to never do such a thing again, the unexpected kiss she received on the cheek was priceless indeed.


End file.
